keening

PRONUNCIATION:

(KEE-ning)

MEANING:

noun: A wailing lament for the dead.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Irish caoineadh (lament). Earliest documented use: 1876.

USAGE:

"Of all the closures of independent stores that have left hundreds of
British high streets a book-free wilderness, none has given rise to
more celebrity keening than the imminent demise of The Travel Bookshop."
Boyd Tonkin; Crimes Behind Closed Doors; The Independent (London, UK);
Sep 9, 2011.